Vehicle Towed From a Florida Crash Scene Without Owner Consent

Attorney Answer

When police clear a wrecked vehicle from a crash scene, you generally do not get to pick the tow company or say where the car goes — so the tow itself is unlikely to give you a claim. Your leverage is over the charges, the notice you are owed, and getting the car released before it is sold.

The governing statute is Fla. Stat. § 713.78, "Liens for recovering, towing, or storing vehicles and vessels." It applies to a tow performed on the instructions of a law enforcement agency. It creates the towing-storage operator's lien (§ 713.78(2)(b)); requires notice by certified mail to the registered owner, the insurer, and any lienholder within five business days of storage (§ 713.78(4)); requires an itemized invoice; and lets the owner obtain release by posting a bond or other adequate security before sale (§ 713.78(5)(b)). What it does not do is give an owner the right to choose the wrecker or the destination for a police-directed tow.

What can still be wrong: charges above the local rate schedule, a bill that is not itemized, storage running while nobody tells you where the car is, or no § 713.78(4) notice at all.

What you can do

1. Find out today which company has the car and where it is stored — the agency that worked the crash can tell you. 2. Ask in writing for an itemized invoice of every tow, recovery, and storage charge, and the date storage began. 3. Tell your own insurer immediately. Storage accrues daily, and the insurer will usually move or total the vehicle, which stops the meter. 4. Watch for the certified-mail notice required by § 713.78(4). If it never came, keep that fact. 5. Get your personal property and your tag out as soon as you are allowed access. 6. If you dispute the charges but want the car back, ask about the § 713.78(5)(b) route — a bond or other security to obtain release before any sale. 7. Complain to the city or county office that regulates towing and sets the rate schedule, and to the agency whose rotation list sent this wrecker.

⏱ Time limits apply. Fla. Stat. § 713.78 lets the operator move toward a lien sale of the vehicle on a set schedule after notice, and the storage bill grows every day until then. How much time you actually have depends on when notice was sent and what the operator has filed, so treat this as urgent rather than assuming you have months.